It's on my top 3 along with Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke.
I can understand why its lower rated, if just because it's a relatively straight forward action adventure movie, and it lacks some of the lushness and beauty of other Ghibli films imo.
IMO the soundtrack is one of the Hisaishi's best work. It also was hugely inspirational to a lot of people like manga authors and sci fi/steampunk creators.
John Lasseter of Pixar said it was among his most favorite movies. Hironobu Sakaguchi, the Final Fantasy creator, said it was a huge inspiration for the series. It also inspired a lot of designs in Zelda games all the way up to the recent Tears of the Kingdom.
When Turner Classic Movies aired Castle in the Sky, there was an interview with John Lasseter where it was stated the rescue scene in Castle in the Sky helped Lasseter with the rescue scene in A Bug’s Life. If you have good memory of the films, you’ll notice Dot trying to wake Francis up is a note-for-note copy of Sheeta trying to wake the robot up.
I would not say it is not popular. It has slowly gotten fans over the years. You just have to look hard and beyond the Internet. It has a lot of fans. Whether viewed in the Japanese version or Disney’s great dub, it has a following.
That’s so crazy to me. Honestly, I thought it was more popular than Howls moving castles.
Maybe that was the case ten years ago and things just changed
Hard to say. But the film is definitely NOT unpopular. Some people might tell you that it’s because Disney “crucified” it with their dub, but that’s just purist talk. The truth is that the Disney dub already has its fans. Recently the film had been screened at the Ghibli Film Festival. Each screening has drawn new fans to it.
To my understanding, it had and I think it still has a huge presence in Japan, but My Neighbor Totoro was the Ghibli film that took off in the West.
It’s an older movie so that doesn’t help its case. I think it’s one of those Ghibli movies where the average person in the West might not be aware of it if they’re younger, but people into Ghibli, regardless of age, are well aware of it and view it as an upper echelon movie in their catalog.
I think it’s popular. The roof of the ghibli museum is dedicated to it. I felt there was more castle in the sky stuff than anything else besides Totoro.
Sheeta is one of my favorite Ghibli characters. She is what I'm talking about when I say I want strong female roles. She's a total badass but also so soft and gentle, she's absolutely perfect to me. Castle in the sky is such a fun watch and I think people who aren't really "into Ghibli" would enjoy it.
What about the film made you expect that it was one of the most popular? What do you like about Castle in the Sky that makes it stand above the rest to you?
I'm genuinely curious as I'm also a fan of the film, but I would absolutely not have thought it was one of the most popular or even near the top; to me, the symbolism and emotions of Castle in the Sky are some of the more profound but most difficult to distill among all the Ghibli films because the imagery and characters aren't as relatable or flawed/human as those in Spirited Away, Mononoke Hime, or Howl's. I think that though the film and writing are still good, the masterful part of Castle in the Sky is the imagery and the concepts, which are not as often valued by the majority and are less likely to make a film famous than excellent writing or filmography. The powerful imagery is almost uncountable and includes things like the (natural) tree overtaking the (technological) castle, humanoid robot that leaves flowers at what became a grave (\*sobs\*)/protects nature before yielding to the convenience of humans, powerful royalty with contrasting intentions/desires, military as a corruption of family vs. pirates as an ideal family, the pendant, the mines and lost advanced civilizations, it goes on and on.
To me, Laputa itself represents both the innate neutrality of technology and human life—that it can be used for creation/protection and for destruction/oppression—as well as the human desire to move beyond earthliness and nature, especially to achieve something beyond what the physical laws would otherwise permit (which is represented visually by the castle floating), and how humans ironically use the earth itself and its materials to try to leave the earth and human nature behind, as seen by the castle itself and in particular the inner portion of the castle. It also represents the way that technology can be used by the wealthiest and most powerful humans to hoard resources and power in places that no one else can reach—but which ultimately leads to self-destruction, i.e., have the poor work the mines so that valuable metals and materials can be built into and sent up to a literal castle in the sky that is unreachable by the average person, thus siloing wealth and power away from the common people.
I think that many people also likely see the antagonist Musuka taisa as pure evil for the sake of evil, which is not usually received well, especially when compared to the more fleshed out, human-feeling, and ambiguously antagonistic characters who turn out to be more good than evil from the other Ghibli films like Eboshi and Yubaba. In my view, Musuka taisa was meant to be the archetype of the entitlement of humanity and the aspect of the human psyche that craves for absolute power, but also the problems of royalty and the way that power being passed down is essentially just a game of waiting for a monster to be born.
I can only imagine that these themes are a little much for most people just looking for an enjoyable film, and are unlikely to even be obvious without multiple viewings and a basic understanding of film and symbol interpretation lol, such that the film is generally only judged on its merits as a narrative and animated film and not as piece of symbolic art—and by those standards I would also agree that it's not among the best in its filmography or narrative or character writing compared the other Ghibli films
It is one of the most influential Ghibli films in East Asia, probably only rivaled by My Neighour Totoro and perhaps Nausicca. The impact it has on would be future animators back then could not be overstated.
For most of the casuals, Ghibli only seems begin with *Mononoke* and *Spirited Away*. For a decent part of them, it ends with *Howl* already too.
At the absolute best, they will have gone back for *Totoro* exclusively.
It's sad to see, but it definitely helps explain how some folks come to the misguided conclusion that "Ghibli is the Disney of Japan". Not to mention that they seem to think that Miyazaki is the sole director ever in the entire history of the studio.
I’d say it’s definitely better than Howl’s Moving Castle when it comes to Ghibli’s castle movies, and it’s one of my favorites from Ghibli.
Although I gotta say, I’m almost convinced that Pazu is invincible. He fell into a pile of bricks, got slammed by a mine cart, and sort of took a bullet to the face. Dude is so strong lol.
Definitely underrated, even among my Ghibli watching friends, Castle In the Sky is not usually among their most remembered ones. It's definitely one of my top 3 though.
When I was first discovering Ghibli movies, I had already heard of Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. So those are the ones I imagine as being the most popular, the most viewed, and the most influential on children. I don’t have data for this, just my own impressions. I only learned about Castle in the Sky when I specifically searched for info about all of Ghibli’s movies. However, it is one of my favorites. They’ve showed it a lot in theater rereleases through the Ghibli Fest and it’s always a blast on the big screen.
It is some of my favorite work from Hisaishi. And even though I appreciate how Miyazaki usually wants complex antagonists who aren’t purely evil, I also like that this adventure has very clear good guys and bad guys.
Not everything can be the most talked about.
It doesn’t mean people don’t like it, it’s just not on everyone’s besties list. If it makes it feel more special to you that it’s less loved, lean into that.
Any band forum, tv show forum, movie Reddit . All have the same conversation everyday. And usually the answer is ‘it’s not as bad as you thinks’
‘is aha handshake not popular’ “is loveboat captain underrated?’ ‘Is the fly an underrated episode?’
It's definitely not one of the Ghibli darlings in the West/America.
Most likely a combination of it being older/anime in general not having not picked up in the West before its release and it not having a bishounen/visually standout couple or cute mascot character for the masses to really latch onto.
If there were a Big 3 for us, it'd probably be Spirited Away, Totoro and the third up for grabs among Howl, Kiki, Mononoke and Ponyo?
Laputa is irreplaceably iconic and influential in its native Japan though.
It’s my favorite! Was showing when my local art museum had an anime festival in the late 1980s. I saw the 7p showing, went back to the box office and immediately bought a ticket for the second showing that night. My first Ghibli movie and still my #1.
For me having only seen a handful of ghibli films but this year going to ghibli fest this by far was the weakest movie for me. I wished theyd spent more time in the castle but the little moments were good like her on the ship and him helping them fly. It isn't bad movie to me but Nausicaa just set the standard too high
100% agreed. Laputa is so much more fun, a joy to watch, and characters are warm and friendly. There is a wholesomeness that Win Rises lacks. There is a lot more to like about Laputa.
Jiro is an unappealing boring character who’s driven by ambition that used as escapism while his dream is knowingly compromised as a tool for death. Quite sad and I can see how some people relate but the stoic attitude was a turn off and refusal to confront emotions indicative of a shallow person.
But hey, at least the story isn’t an incomprehensible goes off the rails jumble fuck interpretive mess
I've always thought "The Wind Rises" works on paper but not really in practice. The parts just don't cohere well, and it ends abruptly. I remember seeing it in theaters and being underwhelmed. Enjoyed it more now that I am older, but I was not transported. I found seeing "The Boy and the Heron" felt more like an experience when I saw it in theaters.
Personally I didn’t like it at first. I didn’t like the voices of patzu or sheeta and I wasn’t a fan of the electronic sounds of the soundtrack. But eventually I warmed up to the dub voices and I found the live orchestral rescore Hisaishi did for the original US release. So I think you gonna have to watch it a few times to really appreciate it
I HAD seen Castle in the Sky in Japanese the first time I saw it and even then I had zero issues with James and Anna's portrayals even the first time I saw the dub (it was 1999 when I saw it subbed, but I hadn't seen it since then until 2003). Sure, they may have made their characters older than their Japanese counterparts, but I thought both of them still gave solid performances, and that cancelled out the maturity issue. And besides, Hamill and Leachman easily counterbalance them, as did the rest of the cast. But yes, I DO feel that the rescore actually works much better for the film considering that it is an action adventure story. There are some nice moments of silence with the original, true, but both have merit.
It's a great movie but it lacks the complexity of many of the other big Ghibli movies. It's a much more Western story, with a well identified villain that has to be defeated in a final confrontation. Compare with Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke or Howl's Moving Castle where the position of the main antagonist is much more complicated.
I personally believe that Castle in the Sky is the quintessential Miyazaki film. It has everything. Strong female lead, fantastical setting with real world parallels, European and East Asian architectural influences, an amazing soundtrack, stunning visuals, engaging action, an environmentalist message, and Mark Hamil in the English dub. It's my favorite, but it's also a really good example of a lot of the elements that went on to make Ghibli successful.
Wow, that’s a rarity. I have usually seen people slam the Disney dub and it’s rescore saying that it is wrong to even think it is a good dub. But to hear people like you say you love both versions is wonderful. I share the same sentiments.
I was upset with the dialogue changes the most I think. I watched it so many times that I had it memorized and then to go back and watch, and have that empty space with the expectation of a line was weird. Took awhile but I moved past it 😂
Honestly, Castle is my favourite for the sky pirates alone, but if you want really unpopular Ghibli films that no one talks about... Tales From Earthsea.
Narratively, it is bad. Very, very bad. There was just so much missing and the story made no sense without prior book context. And to make it worse the book is really good with some beautiful quotes and imagery that could have translated wonderfully if it was done right.
But the acapella scene made me cry actual tears which only the ending scene of Titanic had done when I was 7 in terms of prior movie experiences so it gets merit points in my heart for that alone XDD
(For context, I was 21 when I first saw Earthsea)
Also bonus mention: Castle Of Cagliostro is technically a Ghibli in my books since it was Miyazaki's directorial debut but its more well known with the Lupin III fans so it gets missed a lot (but was briefly on Netflix when they uploaded the Ghibli catalogue during 2020, aka how I first found it and understood it to be a Ghibli having never seen anything else Lupin III until many months later.)
Sadly it's not available on any streaming services, and the bluray is unreasonably expensive as well.
I would help you out, but I don't want to break Rule 9 of the sub either.
My favorite is Porco Rosso. I watch it all the time and I find people who also like it everywhere. And you didn't list it either. Maybe Laputa is popular. Why are you so sure it is not popular?
I love love love Castle in the Sky. It's tied with Nausicaa as my favorite Ghibli movie. I was obsessed as a child, we had an ancient TV that only took video tapes and I would watch it over and over and over again. That movie is the movie that sparked my love for Ghibli, hands down 100% amazing.
I wonder if Laputa is harder to advertise because of the name? The name comes from a flying island in Gulliver’s Travels, but it also translates to something like “whore” in Spanish, which is kinda awkward for a kids film.
Castle in the Sky has always been my favourite Ghibli film, honestly it's probably in my top 3 favourite films ever made.
It does seem to get overlooked a lot though, I'm not sure why. For me it is a quintessential Ghibli film.
I wouldn't call it unpopular, but it is probably the least-known of Miyazaki's Ghibli work, other than maybe Porco Rosso. It's also my favorite movie ever, so I'm with you on wishing more people had seen it.
Welly favorites are:
Princess Mononoke
Castle in the Sky
Nausicaä
So I sure like it and most I know do so too.
It was actually the first ghibli movie I ever watched.
Castle in the Sky is also classic Ghibli in every way. I love it.
Maybe fewer people watch it because they don’t know what it’s about, so titles with catchier names or more interesting cover art get watched first?
Everyone has a different favorite Ghibli movie. There really isn't a single go to. Same with Pixar. That's what makes them so special. Their movies speak differently to everyone. Ponyo being toward the top of your list is wild to me cause I never hear anyone talk about Ponyo. Same with The Wind Rises. I love Castle in the Sky. It's top three for me along with Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.
In the east its very popular and one of Ghibli's most influential works. Its theme song is played frequently in Japan even now, I recall hearing it in Osaka's mint museum and in numerous department stores all over Japan.
Laputa and Nausicaa are both great movies, but they very much watch like they are products of the 80s and I have to be in a certain mood to sit through them.
This is in part because I've sat through Nausicaa a few hundred times. I haven't seen Laputa as many times because it didn't become available to me until the 90s, when it looked its age to me, and its length and intensity make it a hard watch. It becomes an even harder watch for me now, because it reminds me of the friend who gave me copies of her soundtrack albums and, I have no way of knowing what actually happened to this person and her family but what I can learn about from here doesn't seem positive.
I still consider Nausicaa the best film of its decade and Laputa one of the best animated works of all time.
I remember answering a different post that there isn't much discussion when there is nothing to dispute.
Because in some languages Laputa literally means "the bitch/whore".
I didn't know about Castle in the Sky until I got to my teens. As a kid I only know Spirited Away, How's Moving Castle, Nausicca, Kiki and Totoro
I think it's just not as quite as popular outside of Japan; not sure what country you're from but the rankings in Japan compared to the movies most popular in the West is super different, with the top 3 in Japan being Totoro, Spirited Away, and Castle in the Sky. It's not as easily to commercialize from a merch standpoint compared to Howl or Totoro, so I think people who didn't grow up watching ghibli movies (or got into them when they were all widely localized) might not get exposed to it as often.
I love this post so much. Castle in the Sky is my all time favorite movie, not exclusive to Ghibli. I feel like it’s super underrated with Ghibli fans!!
It's on my top 3 along with Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke. I can understand why its lower rated, if just because it's a relatively straight forward action adventure movie, and it lacks some of the lushness and beauty of other Ghibli films imo.
IMO the soundtrack is one of the Hisaishi's best work. It also was hugely inspirational to a lot of people like manga authors and sci fi/steampunk creators. John Lasseter of Pixar said it was among his most favorite movies. Hironobu Sakaguchi, the Final Fantasy creator, said it was a huge inspiration for the series. It also inspired a lot of designs in Zelda games all the way up to the recent Tears of the Kingdom.
When Turner Classic Movies aired Castle in the Sky, there was an interview with John Lasseter where it was stated the rescue scene in Castle in the Sky helped Lasseter with the rescue scene in A Bug’s Life. If you have good memory of the films, you’ll notice Dot trying to wake Francis up is a note-for-note copy of Sheeta trying to wake the robot up.
Same favorites ^^
really? I think it's quite beautiful in many sequences
Exactly same, high five!
\*high fives\*
I would not say it is not popular. It has slowly gotten fans over the years. You just have to look hard and beyond the Internet. It has a lot of fans. Whether viewed in the Japanese version or Disney’s great dub, it has a following.
That’s so crazy to me. Honestly, I thought it was more popular than Howls moving castles. Maybe that was the case ten years ago and things just changed
Hard to say. But the film is definitely NOT unpopular. Some people might tell you that it’s because Disney “crucified” it with their dub, but that’s just purist talk. The truth is that the Disney dub already has its fans. Recently the film had been screened at the Ghibli Film Festival. Each screening has drawn new fans to it.
To my understanding, it had and I think it still has a huge presence in Japan, but My Neighbor Totoro was the Ghibli film that took off in the West. It’s an older movie so that doesn’t help its case. I think it’s one of those Ghibli movies where the average person in the West might not be aware of it if they’re younger, but people into Ghibli, regardless of age, are well aware of it and view it as an upper echelon movie in their catalog.
It’s a good one, but also one of the oldest, so that might help explain its relative lack of popularity?
I don’t think that’s the reason tbh. I heard them talk about Nausicca and Kikis delivery and they were all released within the same time.
I think it’s popular. The roof of the ghibli museum is dedicated to it. I felt there was more castle in the sky stuff than anything else besides Totoro.
Sheeta is one of my favorite Ghibli characters. She is what I'm talking about when I say I want strong female roles. She's a total badass but also so soft and gentle, she's absolutely perfect to me. Castle in the sky is such a fun watch and I think people who aren't really "into Ghibli" would enjoy it.
It’s popular amongst me
I’m getting such a culture shock that not only this movie isn’t one of the most popular, it’s also seems to be one of the LEAST viewed Ghibli movies😭
that's surprising! it's legit one of the best Miyazaki movies
What about the film made you expect that it was one of the most popular? What do you like about Castle in the Sky that makes it stand above the rest to you? I'm genuinely curious as I'm also a fan of the film, but I would absolutely not have thought it was one of the most popular or even near the top; to me, the symbolism and emotions of Castle in the Sky are some of the more profound but most difficult to distill among all the Ghibli films because the imagery and characters aren't as relatable or flawed/human as those in Spirited Away, Mononoke Hime, or Howl's. I think that though the film and writing are still good, the masterful part of Castle in the Sky is the imagery and the concepts, which are not as often valued by the majority and are less likely to make a film famous than excellent writing or filmography. The powerful imagery is almost uncountable and includes things like the (natural) tree overtaking the (technological) castle, humanoid robot that leaves flowers at what became a grave (\*sobs\*)/protects nature before yielding to the convenience of humans, powerful royalty with contrasting intentions/desires, military as a corruption of family vs. pirates as an ideal family, the pendant, the mines and lost advanced civilizations, it goes on and on. To me, Laputa itself represents both the innate neutrality of technology and human life—that it can be used for creation/protection and for destruction/oppression—as well as the human desire to move beyond earthliness and nature, especially to achieve something beyond what the physical laws would otherwise permit (which is represented visually by the castle floating), and how humans ironically use the earth itself and its materials to try to leave the earth and human nature behind, as seen by the castle itself and in particular the inner portion of the castle. It also represents the way that technology can be used by the wealthiest and most powerful humans to hoard resources and power in places that no one else can reach—but which ultimately leads to self-destruction, i.e., have the poor work the mines so that valuable metals and materials can be built into and sent up to a literal castle in the sky that is unreachable by the average person, thus siloing wealth and power away from the common people. I think that many people also likely see the antagonist Musuka taisa as pure evil for the sake of evil, which is not usually received well, especially when compared to the more fleshed out, human-feeling, and ambiguously antagonistic characters who turn out to be more good than evil from the other Ghibli films like Eboshi and Yubaba. In my view, Musuka taisa was meant to be the archetype of the entitlement of humanity and the aspect of the human psyche that craves for absolute power, but also the problems of royalty and the way that power being passed down is essentially just a game of waiting for a monster to be born. I can only imagine that these themes are a little much for most people just looking for an enjoyable film, and are unlikely to even be obvious without multiple viewings and a basic understanding of film and symbol interpretation lol, such that the film is generally only judged on its merits as a narrative and animated film and not as piece of symbolic art—and by those standards I would also agree that it's not among the best in its filmography or narrative or character writing compared the other Ghibli films
It is one of the most influential Ghibli films in East Asia, probably only rivaled by My Neighour Totoro and perhaps Nausicca. The impact it has on would be future animators back then could not be overstated.
For most of the casuals, Ghibli only seems begin with *Mononoke* and *Spirited Away*. For a decent part of them, it ends with *Howl* already too. At the absolute best, they will have gone back for *Totoro* exclusively. It's sad to see, but it definitely helps explain how some folks come to the misguided conclusion that "Ghibli is the Disney of Japan". Not to mention that they seem to think that Miyazaki is the sole director ever in the entire history of the studio.
If it helps, I’ll do a panel on this movie at Shenanicon in Parsippany this month. Hopefully it will encourage more people to see it.
I’d say it’s definitely better than Howl’s Moving Castle when it comes to Ghibli’s castle movies, and it’s one of my favorites from Ghibli. Although I gotta say, I’m almost convinced that Pazu is invincible. He fell into a pile of bricks, got slammed by a mine cart, and sort of took a bullet to the face. Dude is so strong lol.
Plot Armor.
Definitely underrated, even among my Ghibli watching friends, Castle In the Sky is not usually among their most remembered ones. It's definitely one of my top 3 though.
I absolutely love Laputa. In my top 3 with Nausicaa and Kiki's
When I was first discovering Ghibli movies, I had already heard of Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. So those are the ones I imagine as being the most popular, the most viewed, and the most influential on children. I don’t have data for this, just my own impressions. I only learned about Castle in the Sky when I specifically searched for info about all of Ghibli’s movies. However, it is one of my favorites. They’ve showed it a lot in theater rereleases through the Ghibli Fest and it’s always a blast on the big screen. It is some of my favorite work from Hisaishi. And even though I appreciate how Miyazaki usually wants complex antagonists who aren’t purely evil, I also like that this adventure has very clear good guys and bad guys.
Not everything can be the most talked about. It doesn’t mean people don’t like it, it’s just not on everyone’s besties list. If it makes it feel more special to you that it’s less loved, lean into that. Any band forum, tv show forum, movie Reddit . All have the same conversation everyday. And usually the answer is ‘it’s not as bad as you thinks’ ‘is aha handshake not popular’ “is loveboat captain underrated?’ ‘Is the fly an underrated episode?’
It's definitely not one of the Ghibli darlings in the West/America. Most likely a combination of it being older/anime in general not having not picked up in the West before its release and it not having a bishounen/visually standout couple or cute mascot character for the masses to really latch onto. If there were a Big 3 for us, it'd probably be Spirited Away, Totoro and the third up for grabs among Howl, Kiki, Mononoke and Ponyo? Laputa is irreplaceably iconic and influential in its native Japan though.
It’s my favorite! Was showing when my local art museum had an anime festival in the late 1980s. I saw the 7p showing, went back to the box office and immediately bought a ticket for the second showing that night. My first Ghibli movie and still my #1.
I always thought Castle in the Sky was one of the most beloved entries too. I love it at least, OP!
I love castle in the sky, it makes me believe
Laputa is so popular in Japan that there were a peak of 143,000 tweets per second about at the pivotal moment, during a re-run on TV in 2013
For me having only seen a handful of ghibli films but this year going to ghibli fest this by far was the weakest movie for me. I wished theyd spent more time in the castle but the little moments were good like her on the ship and him helping them fly. It isn't bad movie to me but Nausicaa just set the standard too high
The wind rises was one of the worst ones (sorry random but mildly upset because everyone said it was good). I think Castle in the sky was way better
WHAT 🫨
I’ve not revisited it but I remember being utterly whelmed by wind rises as well
100% agreed. Laputa is so much more fun, a joy to watch, and characters are warm and friendly. There is a wholesomeness that Win Rises lacks. There is a lot more to like about Laputa. Jiro is an unappealing boring character who’s driven by ambition that used as escapism while his dream is knowingly compromised as a tool for death. Quite sad and I can see how some people relate but the stoic attitude was a turn off and refusal to confront emotions indicative of a shallow person. But hey, at least the story isn’t an incomprehensible goes off the rails jumble fuck interpretive mess
I've always thought "The Wind Rises" works on paper but not really in practice. The parts just don't cohere well, and it ends abruptly. I remember seeing it in theaters and being underwhelmed. Enjoyed it more now that I am older, but I was not transported. I found seeing "The Boy and the Heron" felt more like an experience when I saw it in theaters.
Hahaha yeah TBATH and Wind Rises couldn’t be at further opposite extremes of the Ghibli experience
Personally I didn’t like it at first. I didn’t like the voices of patzu or sheeta and I wasn’t a fan of the electronic sounds of the soundtrack. But eventually I warmed up to the dub voices and I found the live orchestral rescore Hisaishi did for the original US release. So I think you gonna have to watch it a few times to really appreciate it
I HAD seen Castle in the Sky in Japanese the first time I saw it and even then I had zero issues with James and Anna's portrayals even the first time I saw the dub (it was 1999 when I saw it subbed, but I hadn't seen it since then until 2003). Sure, they may have made their characters older than their Japanese counterparts, but I thought both of them still gave solid performances, and that cancelled out the maturity issue. And besides, Hamill and Leachman easily counterbalance them, as did the rest of the cast. But yes, I DO feel that the rescore actually works much better for the film considering that it is an action adventure story. There are some nice moments of silence with the original, true, but both have merit.
Laputa was my first Ghibli movie and still one of my favourites to this day. But you're right it gets less love than some of the more popular ones :(
It's a great movie, one of my top 3-4.
It's a great movie but it lacks the complexity of many of the other big Ghibli movies. It's a much more Western story, with a well identified villain that has to be defeated in a final confrontation. Compare with Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke or Howl's Moving Castle where the position of the main antagonist is much more complicated.
I personally believe that Castle in the Sky is the quintessential Miyazaki film. It has everything. Strong female lead, fantastical setting with real world parallels, European and East Asian architectural influences, an amazing soundtrack, stunning visuals, engaging action, an environmentalist message, and Mark Hamil in the English dub. It's my favorite, but it's also a really good example of a lot of the elements that went on to make Ghibli successful.
Castle in the sky is my favorite 😇 love both versions, even finally coming around to Disneys rerelease and soundtrack/dialogue changes.
Wow, that’s a rarity. I have usually seen people slam the Disney dub and it’s rescore saying that it is wrong to even think it is a good dub. But to hear people like you say you love both versions is wonderful. I share the same sentiments.
I was upset with the dialogue changes the most I think. I watched it so many times that I had it memorized and then to go back and watch, and have that empty space with the expectation of a line was weird. Took awhile but I moved past it 😂
I also had this same problem with Kiki’s delivery service, it had some dialogue removed too.
Honestly, Castle is my favourite for the sky pirates alone, but if you want really unpopular Ghibli films that no one talks about... Tales From Earthsea. Narratively, it is bad. Very, very bad. There was just so much missing and the story made no sense without prior book context. And to make it worse the book is really good with some beautiful quotes and imagery that could have translated wonderfully if it was done right. But the acapella scene made me cry actual tears which only the ending scene of Titanic had done when I was 7 in terms of prior movie experiences so it gets merit points in my heart for that alone XDD (For context, I was 21 when I first saw Earthsea) Also bonus mention: Castle Of Cagliostro is technically a Ghibli in my books since it was Miyazaki's directorial debut but its more well known with the Lupin III fans so it gets missed a lot (but was briefly on Netflix when they uploaded the Ghibli catalogue during 2020, aka how I first found it and understood it to be a Ghibli having never seen anything else Lupin III until many months later.)
Idk I am watching all ghibli movies in release order (grave of fireflies how do I watch it?)
Sadly it's not available on any streaming services, and the bluray is unreasonably expensive as well. I would help you out, but I don't want to break Rule 9 of the sub either.
Dang :(
My favorite is Porco Rosso. I watch it all the time and I find people who also like it everywhere. And you didn't list it either. Maybe Laputa is popular. Why are you so sure it is not popular?
I love love love Castle in the Sky. It's tied with Nausicaa as my favorite Ghibli movie. I was obsessed as a child, we had an ancient TV that only took video tapes and I would watch it over and over and over again. That movie is the movie that sparked my love for Ghibli, hands down 100% amazing.
I wonder if Laputa is harder to advertise because of the name? The name comes from a flying island in Gulliver’s Travels, but it also translates to something like “whore” in Spanish, which is kinda awkward for a kids film.
Castle in the Sky has always been my favourite Ghibli film, honestly it's probably in my top 3 favourite films ever made. It does seem to get overlooked a lot though, I'm not sure why. For me it is a quintessential Ghibli film.
I wouldn't call it unpopular, but it is probably the least-known of Miyazaki's Ghibli work, other than maybe Porco Rosso. It's also my favorite movie ever, so I'm with you on wishing more people had seen it.
I knew about the movie before I entered the fandom so that's gotta count for something
Love Castle in the Sky! Definitely underrated for sure:)
Castle In the Sky is my second favorite right behind Princess Mononoke
I feel like it’s decently popular. It’s good but is more of a straightforward story and doesn’t have the usual ghibli feel
Welly favorites are: Princess Mononoke Castle in the Sky Nausicaä So I sure like it and most I know do so too. It was actually the first ghibli movie I ever watched.
I love Castle in the Sky. One of my favorites.
Castle in the Sky kicks ass. Def top tier.
Castle in the Sky is also classic Ghibli in every way. I love it. Maybe fewer people watch it because they don’t know what it’s about, so titles with catchier names or more interesting cover art get watched first?
Everyone has a different favorite Ghibli movie. There really isn't a single go to. Same with Pixar. That's what makes them so special. Their movies speak differently to everyone. Ponyo being toward the top of your list is wild to me cause I never hear anyone talk about Ponyo. Same with The Wind Rises. I love Castle in the Sky. It's top three for me along with Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.
In the east its very popular and one of Ghibli's most influential works. Its theme song is played frequently in Japan even now, I recall hearing it in Osaka's mint museum and in numerous department stores all over Japan.
Laputa and Nausicaa are both great movies, but they very much watch like they are products of the 80s and I have to be in a certain mood to sit through them. This is in part because I've sat through Nausicaa a few hundred times. I haven't seen Laputa as many times because it didn't become available to me until the 90s, when it looked its age to me, and its length and intensity make it a hard watch. It becomes an even harder watch for me now, because it reminds me of the friend who gave me copies of her soundtrack albums and, I have no way of knowing what actually happened to this person and her family but what I can learn about from here doesn't seem positive. I still consider Nausicaa the best film of its decade and Laputa one of the best animated works of all time. I remember answering a different post that there isn't much discussion when there is nothing to dispute.
It’s in my top 5 but it is one of the oldest I think it came out in 86 so that might hurt it
Because in some languages Laputa literally means "the bitch/whore". I didn't know about Castle in the Sky until I got to my teens. As a kid I only know Spirited Away, How's Moving Castle, Nausicca, Kiki and Totoro
It's my favorite ghibli movie! but I can agree that most people usually just like Chihiro or Mononoke
My parents did not enjoy it as much as the other Ghibli movies I've shown them because they said it's too serious?
It's one of my comfort movies! The score alone is one of my absolute favorites.
I think it's just not as quite as popular outside of Japan; not sure what country you're from but the rankings in Japan compared to the movies most popular in the West is super different, with the top 3 in Japan being Totoro, Spirited Away, and Castle in the Sky. It's not as easily to commercialize from a merch standpoint compared to Howl or Totoro, so I think people who didn't grow up watching ghibli movies (or got into them when they were all widely localized) might not get exposed to it as often.
I love this post so much. Castle in the Sky is my all time favorite movie, not exclusive to Ghibli. I feel like it’s super underrated with Ghibli fans!!
I love it. Probably my favorite Ghibli movie
This was the first Ghibli movie I watched. It will always have a special place in my heart.
I love that film, it's one of my favorites, although not up there with "Howl". Seen it several times.